Rob’s Rants on Sports: Fans not spreading any holiday joy

Nelson Agholor appeared to be on the verge of being waived by the Eagles after confessing, for lack of a better term, that he was struggling with the game mentally. He admitted things like fan criticism were getting to him, and that he needed to do a better job. Are we really ripping a guy for that? I get it. It’s not what anyone wants to hear from an NFL wide receiver. He’s been terrible. And he cost the Eagles a touchdown two weeks ago because he didn’t get lined up properly, while his head coach was screaming at him to get on the line. If you want to rip him, rip him for that. The fact that he was a first round draft pick isn’t something I add to the equation, though many people do. If Chip Kelly was dumb enough to pick him as a first rounder, that’s on Kelly and the organization. But I don’t understand the venom directed at Agholor for his comments. At least he admitted he’s not getting the job done.

I’ve actually heard people screaming for Doug Pederson to be fired after the loss to the Packers. Seriously? First of all, Jeff Lurie doesn’t have the stones to fire Pederson one year removed from giving Kelly the boot. So, it’s not going to happen. I’m certainly not defending Pederson. I said he was reaching Rich Kotite levels before the last two weeks. Challenging a two-yard reception by the Packers doesn’t exactly move me off that position. And maybe calling a timeout instead of screaming at Agholor when he’s lined up off the line instead of wasting a play that could really work would have been a good idea. But Pederson’s not getting fired. Lurie’s goal in life as an NFL owner is to be viewed as the sage, brooding, well-respected brains building a winner from behind the scenes (while getting all the accolades, of course). I know . . . never going to happen. But firing coaches in back-to-back years just doesn’t fit the self-appointed profile of this owner. He’s not firing Pederson this season.

Expect the calls for Pederson’s head to get louder, anyway. For a while, I was incredibly relieved that the trade of Sam Bradford caused me to skip my game-by-game predictions post. I thought the season was going to get at least as ugly as the recent 2-6 stretch suggests. I admit, I was way off. But looking ahead, I honestly think it is going to get ugly. If they don’t beat the Bengals, and the Cowboys care about the final game, I’m not sure the Birds win another game this season. Of course, my “predictions” . . . e’hm . . . have sucked all season. So, the Birds will probably win out.

I don’t think fans were too upset that the Sixers had to postpone their game on Wednesday night because the court was slick, but the media seemed pretty ticked—at least, Michael Barkann did. He was going after the Sixers on Philly Sports Talk the next day. I’ve already heard that the Sixers are offering fans complimentary tickets to any other game. I hope they figure out some way to reimburse people who payed for parking. And, again, from what I heard on television, it was pretty dumb that someone apparently forgot to turn down the thermostat so the ice under the court wouldn’t melt. But . . . eh. I’m sure fans who went down were not pleased, and they should have been told the game was cancelled sooner. This isn’t much of a rant, but I don’t put too much on the Sixers for this one.

I’ll finish on an “up” note that I don’t think anyone is grumbling about. It was a good news / bad news situation for Phillies fans when Matt Stairs became the hitting coach. I think it could be a good move for the team on the field, but I was going to miss him as an analyst in the TV broadcast booth for games. But the Phils are reportedly bringing in John Kruk to replace Stairs for a good portion of the games. “Krukker” was great in the same role on ESPN.